


Three Yellow Roses

by secretsofthesky



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Soft Betty Cooper, Soft Jughead Jones, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 09:01:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23968783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/secretsofthesky/pseuds/secretsofthesky
Summary: She received her first rose during third period.
Relationships: Betty Cooper & Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Comments: 9
Kudos: 124





	Three Yellow Roses

* * *

She received her first rose during third period.

It was a silly high school Valentine’s Day tradition that went on every year in order to raise money for school activities. Riverdale High’s student council sold roses for five dollars each and would deliver them to the student of your choice before every class. It was always a hit, significant others and secret admirers jumping at the chance to buy up the colorful flowers and have them delivered with a special note to show their love. Though most of the recipients were typically members of the River Vixens while all the other - less popular - girls looked on in envy. 

Betty didn’t mind seeing others being gifted with rose after rose every period though. It wasn’t that she wasn’t receiving any that had her eyes closing every time one of the delivery boys would walk into class with an armful of roses and start calling out names.

No, it wasn’t that at all.

It was that every year, Polly had always come home with an armful of roses she had received and she and Betty would sit in the kitchen, trimming them down and placing them in vases while laughing over the notes she had received with them. She’d always given Betty a few to take to her room, the bright yellow ones always being the ones she chose, never wanting her to feel left out.

There would be none this year though, Betty thought as her heart squeezed painfully in her chest. Polly was gone, sent away by her parents to god only knew where to have the child of her deceased high school sweetheart.

The high school sweetheart she had remembered writing one of those notes to her sister the year before.

Betty closed her eyes, inhaling slowly through her nose to calm her emotions as the names started being read. Cheryl Blossom feigned surprised as three roses were handed to her, all blood red, of course, and a few more were passed out until only a single yellow rose remained.

“Last one,” the freshman read, looking down at the small paper attached to the stem. “Betty Cooper.”

Betty blinked, her head lifting to find the boy glancing around the room, waiting for her to signal who she was. Had she misheard him?

“Betty Cooper? Is she in this class?”

Nope, she hadn’t misheard. He had definitely said her name.

Sitting straighter, she slowly raised her hand, feeling everyone’s eyes on her but not caring as he walked to her desk with a smile and handed her the gorgeous yellow rose, the color a stark difference from all the red ones on the desks of the people around her.

“Thank you,” she told him as he stepped away, jogging out the door to make it to his own class.

Her teacher began their lesson, talking about an upcoming project they’d be needing partners for, but she only heard every other word, her mind elsewhere as she stared at the vibrant flower in her hands.

It wasn’t until a good five minutes passed of just staring at it that she reached for the small paper that was taped to the stem that had her name on one side and flipped it over.

_“Yellow roses represent joy, so I’m hoping this cheers you up. Even if it’s just a little. Happy Valentine’s Day, Betty.”_

No name was listed below it, just the note. She read it again, and then again before lifting the rose to her nose, closing her eyes and inhaling its sweet scent.

For the first time in what felt like forever, she felt a smile touch her lips. The muscles of her cheeks twitched, the action feeling foreign.

By the end of class, they were aching in protest, but the smile never left her face.

* * *

The second he saw her eyes close as she lifted the rose to her nose, he knew the money had been worth it.

Then she smiled, and he realized he would gladly give up the few things he owned that held value if it meant doing whatever he could to make sure that smile never left her face again.

It was the smile that had him jogging to the office before his next period, making himself late and earning detention in the process, just to dig out the rest of the cash he had to buy her two more.

He’d only had fifteen to start with, earned from spending his weekend shoveling driveways for a couple of bucks apiece, and it was meant to be used to cover his dinners for the week and buy a couple of pairs of wool socks so his feet didn’t get so cold on his walks to and from school. But he’d get by. He could deal with cold feet for a couple more weeks and he would just ask their lunch lady Martha for bigger helpings on the days he had school. She lived on the Southside and knew all about FP Jones' failings as a parent and never minded tossing an extra couple slices of pizza on his tray or sneaking him leftovers at the end of the day out of pity.

Yeah, he’d get by, he decided as he watched her receive her second rose of the day during fifth period, her face lighting up as her name was called yet again.

“It’s nice to see you smile again,” he had written on that one, and he watched her eyes move over the note before she abruptly turned. His eyes shot to the chalkboard as he willed his body to look casual, seeing her eyes travel over their class in question, searching for whoever had written the note. He breathed a sigh of relief when she turned to the front of the class again as the teacher began to speak.

He hoped he hadn’t creeped her out, only realizing now how his message could have sounded.

He waited a few moments before finding the courage to glance her way again, holding his breath as he did so.

Her cheeks were still lifted in a smile, the tops of them tinged red as she slowly rolled the stem of the rose between her fingers, lifting to smell it every few moments.

He let out the breath he had been holding, tugging at his beanie and chuckling to himself at his ridiculousness.

He managed to pay attention to the lesson, well - _mostly_.

He couldn’t help it if his eyes traveled over to the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen every few minutes.

His heart hammering in his chest every time he discovered her smile hadn’t faded one bit.

* * *

Betty slid to the floor in front of her locker, setting her lunch tray on her crossed legs and picking up the rose that was delivered to her while she stood in the line at the vending machine a few moments before.

_“I didn’t know what to say for this one so I have a joke instead. I went to the zoo the other day and there were no animals there except one dog - it was a Shih Tzu.”_

She read it quietly first, and then aloud. The words barely finished falling from her lips before a giggle erupted, a giggle that quickly morphed into full-fledged laughter. Laughter that brought tears to her eyes and echoed down the empty hall, bouncing off the lockers.

A sweet sound filled with happiness and hope.

A sound that hadn’t left her lips in far too long.

* * *

“Hey! Wait up!”

Jughead stuck his hands in his pockets to warm them as he made his way down the sidewalk, his boots leaving prints in the fresh snow.

“Jughead!”

At his name, he stopped and turned, eyes widening in surprise as he realized who it was that had called it.

Betty jogged over to him, her ponytail bouncing from side to side from her movement. She wasn’t wearing her coat and her arms were folded over her chest to fight off the cold.

“Hi,” she breathed when she stopped in front of him, her soft green eyes meeting his bewildered gaze.

He swallowed, opening his mouth to speak but no words came. He felt his cheeks heat despite the frigid temps and cleared his throat before trying again. “Hi,” he managed.

She smiled then, the same smile she had been sporting earlier only this time it wasn’t aimed at the rose in her hand.

Now it was aimed at him, and once again he forgot how to breathe.

“I tried to get your attention back there but you must not have heard me,” she said softly, her hands moving up and down over the tops of her arms. “You walk _really_ fast.”

“Long legs,” he replied awkwardly and then cursed himself.

The laugh that spilled from her lips then moved over him, warming him, and he wanted nothing more than to listen to that sound every second for the rest of his life.

“I wanted to ask you something,” Betty told him, biting at her lip and glancing around as students passed them on their way to their cars and buses.

She had figured it out.

She knew he had sent the roses.

His heart started to beat frantically as he waited for her next words.

“Did you want to be my partner for our biology project?”

The breath he had been holding left him in a loud whoosh and he swore he saw her eyes light up.

“Yes!” he said, just a little too loudly and he wanted to just tug his beanie down over his face and disappear. “I mean, yeah. Yeah, we can be partners.”

Betty beamed at him, glancing at her shoes before meeting his eyes again shyly. “Sounds good. We can go over everything tomorrow at lunch if that works?”

Jughead nodded, maybe a bit too eagerly, and had her eyes twinkling again. “Sounds great, yeah.”

“Good. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She told him, taking a step back from him before turning around.

Jughead watched her walk away for a moment before turning himself to continue his trek home.

“Hey Juggie,” her voice floated to him again, her words dancing over the space between them and instantly enveloping his heart.

He turned again, finding her watching him. “Yeah?”

She was silent for a moment before speaking again. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

She smiled again then, a knowing smile that told him that she did know after all. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” was all she said before turning and running back towards the school.

He stood there for a few moments after she disappeared, trying to figure out how she had found out it was him but gave up.

When the wind hit his ears, he tugged his beanie down and turned to head home, his cheeks aching from the grin on his face.

Betty’s words replaying in his mind the entire way, the memory of her happy face washing over him and making him forget all about the cold.


End file.
